Learning To Fall
by MeetMeAfterDark.x
Summary: Paul has always been the most volatile wolf from the pack. So when he’s sent to a college on the other side of the country from his bros, can he keep his cool whilst having to put up with a world he's not used to and certainly doesn't like? It's unlikely.


_Author's Note - _

_Hello!!! Err... this is my first fan fiction story in like, forever, so I'm a bit rusty with my writing. But what the hell, give it a read and please don't hesitate to tell me what you think or to point out any mistakes. Oh and BTW, it's set a year after Eclipse. _

_Much love. _

_The Crappy Summary - _

_Paul has always been the most volatile, aggressive and uncontrollable wolf from the pack. So, when he's sent to 'rod-up-your-ass' college on the other side of the country from his bros, can he keep his cool whilst having to put up with snobbish peers, inept teachers and a girl that just won't notice him? It's highly unlikely._

_Disclaimer - _

_I own Twilight, I have pink, fluffy wings and several eyes all across my face. Pssh, of course I don't own Twilight... and that fact saddens me..._

* * *

**1**

**Description Of A Disaster**

Guess what?

I'm scowling… _again_.

A scowl seems to be the only expression that you'll ever frequently see on my face apart from a glare and I resent that fact. I resent that I don't have the self-control and temperament to be all smiles and sunshine all the time - although if I was like that then Jared and Sam would've locked me up in a mental institute a long time ago.

It's not like a mental institute could hold me for long though. I'd either get so angry about getting shut up in there that I'd phase and involuntarily destroy the place, or I'd get frustrated after a few days because I couldn't get to a fast-food restaurant and then I'd phase and _voluntarily_ destroy the place.

"So, what do you think, Paul?" My mom repeated for the third time, staring at me expectantly as I just scowled at the wall above her head.

I wasn't angry at my mother, I'm not _that_ bad, but I was beyond furious about what she'd just told me. A shudder ran down my spine.

I spoke after a few seconds of contemplating what I could do to manage my anger instead of tearing off the refrigerator door.

"I think I'm going to go for a walk."

Translation: I've looked at all the possible reactions for when a mother tells her son he's unfortunately gotten into college and I've decided that I'm really, really not happy about it. So, instead of tearing you to pieces - because that would make me cry - I'm going to go and fling my clothes off in the forest so that I can run on all fours with my tail held high.

Mom's smile fell as I shuffled past her and opened the back door, it took what was left of my self-control not to snap the handle off.

"But, honey, it's Yale!" She yelled after me and I kicked off my sneakers, unwilling to make her spend another thirty-five dollars on shoes that would in the end just get ruined anyway.

Yale.

Yale.

Yale.

How the hell did _I _get excepted into YALE??? ME! I'm the guy who cheated off of the girl next to him during his exams until she flicked her pen lid in his eye to get him to stop! I'm the guy that almost burned down the science department of the Tribal School because I didn't know which periodic symbol was which and mixed the wrong chemicals! I'm the guy that would rather skip lessons to go look for parasites than sit there and pretend to listen to the teachers for several hours!

I'm not the guy that would get into Yale.

I didn't bother to strip, but a moment later I felt the satisfying crunch of my bones and I was running through the trees at a speed only a car or leech could've reached.

_Yale? You're kidding me, right? _Quil was the only one on patrols and I knew he would probe me mercilessly about my sudden college place. I think he knew that if he did that, he would end up with a black eye though… or worse.

_How the hell did _you_ get into Yale?! _He continued, turning towards the north trail so that he could run with me.

_That's what I want to know! _I wasn't as angry anymore, but still as volatile. And confused. I was way, way, way confused.

I'd never even thought about going to college, not since I knew I had all the time in the world for it anyway. Hell, I didn't even remember applying for the damn place! I wouldn't have done that anyway. I'd never thought about college because I had never even wanted to go.

Someone up there must really hate me.

_People down here too, _Quil joked and I told him to cram it otherwise he'd only have three legs. _Dude, you should be ecstatic, but instead you're sulking in the forest? I don't get it. If I got into Yale I'd probably be jumping for joy right now and you'd be video-taping it so that you could blackmail me later on. _

_What about Claire? _I asked and he was silent.

There are only two real loves in a werewolf's life and they were food and soul mates. You see how I put food _before_ soul mates? That's because the whole idea of love at first sight and then a happily ever after isn't really all that important to me yet. I've witnessed the importance though. Heck, my best friend puts Kim before his Xbox even! But in Quil's case, playing 'Barbies' with Claire is far more important then eating at Emily's first. Pure Madness, right?

_Paul, you don't even know what you're talking about. _Quil told me using an aggressive, protective tone.

I didn't comment on his relationship with the toddler again, remembering how he'd almost bit my finger off when I stole his burger last month. Imagine his anger then transferred into anger after I've commented on his imprint: my whole hand would be gone.

_What do I do?_ I asked Quil a moment later, when we were both calm enough to think clearly.

_Dunno, I can't really put myself in the same situation... but if I wasn't all fur and shit, I would go. _His answer seriously shocked. It shocked me so much that I ran into a tree, immediately uprooting the small pine as I tumbled forwards. Birds scattered from the treetops and Quil barked in laughter. I growled at him out of habit and it echoed throughout the forest. Unsurprisingly, our thoughts were joined a few minutes later by Sam's.

_What's going... _He trailed off, going through our minds to see what had happened instead of bothering to listen to us. He probably thought we would lie_. YALE??!!??!!_

Do you believe me now when I tell you that it is near impossible for me to get above a **C** in any subject? Do you believe me now when I tell you that it's even nearer impossible for me to have seriously gotten into Yale? Do you believe me when I tell you that if this is a joke I will seriously hunt down the person behind it and rip their guts out?

_Paul, no need to get gory, _Sam told me, still trying to contemplate the same thing I was trying to contemplate.

_Well, this has been an interestingly unproductive half an hour_, Quil laughed before phasing back into his human-self.

We did the same a few minutes later, however I had to stay in the forest whilst Sam went to get me some clothes. During that time, I kicked a few rocks and stared at the pine I'd knocked over.

I'd knocked a tree over just by accidently ramming into it, how much damage could I do on purpose? God knows. Just picture a scene; I'm in college, get a beyond bad grade and get furious at myself, then the next minute there's a gigantic hole in the wall of the lecture hall. That wouldn't be good. Not at all.

What would happen if I imprinted? What if I imprinted on some weird, vegetarian chick and didn't let me eat meat? Then I know I'd phase for sure and probably destroy the tofu restaurant she'd dragged me to or something.

I think I'm now developing two fears: vegetarians and Yale.

"Paul?" I heard Sam call from somewhere in the trees behind me and I turned on my heel and strode over to him in all my glory. He turned his head away from me and chucked over a pair of cut-off jeans. I accepted them and tugged them on with some difficulty.

"Whose are these?" I asked him, doing up the fly.

"Seth's - I ran into him half-way to my place and figured it was easier to ask him for a pair instead of going all the way to mine and back." Sam explained, already heading back to the gap in the trees that led to the street. That was the point when it started to rain and I scowled up at the darkening sky. This has to be the worst day of my life.

We were silent as we walked back to the house, both of us probably wondering what the hell to do about this whole college thing. I didn't honestly see why he was so worked up about it, I was the one that would have to go through four more years of boringly back-breaking school years!!! I was the one that could risk being shipped off to a research lab or a zoo if I lost my temper!!! I was the one that was shaking slightly as I thought about it...

Sam gave me a look and I stopped shaking instantly as he opened the front door.

We were greeted by the holy smell of lasagna and I felt my shoulders relax back. I followed the delicious aroma to the kitchen and found Emily, holding a spoon and feigning off Collin and Seth, who were obviously on edge about eating. Sam stepped in front of them, taking Emily in an embrace with one arm as he pushed the pups back with the other.

"Can you tell the rest of the fur balls that dinner will be ready in a few minutes?" Emily asked me, pulling away from Sam reluctantly.

I sighed and grabbed Collin's ear, dragging him out of the room before I did the same with Seth, after that I went into the front room where the rest of the 'fur balls' were sat around the new television set Sam had bought last weekend. Currently, Jared and Jacob were playing Halo 2 and it seemed as if Jakey was winning - much to Jared's annoyance.

"Emily says dinner will be ready in a few," I told them and drew the attention of the majority of the room, eager eyes peering round me to the kitchen. They could smell the lasagna too.

"Quil tells us your going off to college." Embry stated, trying to pry the controller off of Jacob so that Jared might stand a chance at winning.

"Not on his own he's not," Sam said, clapping me on the shoulder as he came into the room.

"I'm not even sure if I'm going yet!" I practically yelled and then all eyes were on me.

I've had moments like this before; where I'm the centre of attention for a bad reason. There was one time at school, during a gym lesson I snapped some metal apparatus in half and like... I got suspended and... everyone now thinks I'm on steroids. In fact, I think everyone thinks we're all on steroids. 'We' being the reclusive, stoic, dorky, inappropriately hopeless pack of werewolves that I belong to.

"You've got nothing to lose," Jacob told me as he finally finished kicking Jared's ass.

I sat down in the corner armchair, resting my head in my left hand. This was all too much.

"I've got everything to lose," I said under my breath, knowing that they all heard me. This was unfair. It was my choice, my life and they were still stuck in the midst of it. I knew it wasn't their fault though, it was our bloodline's damn fault.

"If you want to go, Paul, then you can't go on your own. You're too... unpredictable..." I knew what Sam meant and couldn't help but glare at him.

Here I am again, stuck as the same old unpredictably dangerous Paul Nolan, an evident problem to my pack's covenant. Only now, I might be sent to some rod-up-your-ass college on the other side of the country with a babysitter. Perfect. My life really is the most messed up, full of bullshit thing in history.

"Embry." Sam nodded towards Em, who was in the middle of arguing quietly with Brady. "Embry will go with you."

"_Embry's gonna do what now_?" Embry looked between Sam and I in disbelief, his eyes wide and scrutinizing. I exchanged a desperate look with him before we both turned to same, arms folded across our muscled chests. Mine was more muscled though.

"Well, are you going or not?" Sam asked me, throwing his hands up in the air. This was probably the question that would decide the rest of my life. Fuck.

"Maybe..."

Translation: are you seriously asking me if I want to go to some snobbish college halfway across the country just to put up with some ass-wiping teenagers who all have the same dream of getting a job with a six digit pay??????

"Then it's settled, Embry will get a job on campus or something and you two can keep an eye on each other. Any problems and you can just come back to La Push."

The debate was ended then as we heard Emily calling us. The rest of the gang went on into the kitchen whilst I just stood there, rocking back and forth on my heels as I tried to let everything that had happened this evening register in my mind.

This was seriously the worst day of my life... so far...


End file.
